Asp
by Crom Cruaich
Summary: Fem!Harry. Not only the Gundams fought Oz. They had allies in the shadows, the elusive Marauders, led by the ruthless Asp. When the pilots do encounter her, few years after the wars, they did not expect what happened...
1. Chapter 1

**A.N. I don't own Harry Potter or Gundam Wing/AC. So there, you can't sue me now.**

"**english"**

"_**different language**_**"**

**~parsletongue~**

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The night was cold and dark as two dark shapes moved silently through the shadows. The rain had only just stopped falling and the street were still shimmering, puddles everywhere. Wufei and Heero slid along the wall, keeping out of the sparse of light of the few streetlights that dotted the old winding streets that they were moving through. They had been following their targets for the entire day, ever since they had been spotted entering the more run down part of London.

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Their quarry were several members of a known street gang, who had been hired to kill someone in London. As soon as the Preventers had heard of that, they had sent two of their best agents to head it off, especially when they heard who was supposed to be the victim.

The elusive Asp. Soon after it had been discovered, the name had circulated around Preventer headquarters and all kinds of stories had started popping up about Asp and her Marauders. The most horrific, and probably most true ones, came from the former OZ and Alliance soldiers who had joined the Preventers.

They told stories about compounds razed to the ground in one single night, the only sign left by the attackers to show who they were the words 'The Marauders were here' burned into a wall or other surface. Patrols disappearing, only the corpses showing up, hanging from walls or pinned to them. Stories about the ruthless Asp, whose only known feature were her brilliant green eyes, who killed patrols only to leave one man alive to spread the word that all that opposed her and the Marauders would die, and if it was up to her, die slowly and painfully. The Marauders were like ghosts, and if it came down to it, the soldiers rather faced the Gundam pilots than the Marauders. They preferred an enemy they knew and could see. During the short wars, the Marauders had destroyed and sabotaged as much as the Gundam pilots, and after the wars ended, they had disappeared.

For a while, nothing had been heard, until rumors had started circulating in the underworld that the Marauders would take down the most terrible crime lords in a blaze of destruction. Because of both their action during the wars and after it, the Marauders were seen as both terrorists and heroes. Lady Une was neutral and had just ordered her agents to bring in Marauders if they met them.

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So that was why Heero Yuy and Chang Wufei were skulking around the back alleys of the London slums, following several gang members, when the people they were following suddenly stopped and hid themselves in the shadows. A little further into the alley they hid in, a door opened, and a person slipped out. Before the door closed the light encircled the person, revealing it to be a young woman with brilliant green eyes. The light disappeared immediately as the door shut, and Heero and Wufei could see her start moving further into the maze of alleys. They hung back further as the gang members started following the woman. Heero rolled his eyes. "What do you think would be the chance that we run into Asp the moment we start the mission?"

Wufei snorted. "I would say small, but well…" He gestured to the disappearing figures, then started moving again. Heero shrugged and followed. They had a mission to finish and no time to muse over chance.

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She really didn't know why she had decided to stay some extra days in London. Perhaps it was for old times sake, but it hadn't been smart. They had caught up with her, those foolish mercenaries who thought they had a chance to take down the infamous Asp. With a silent snarl she flicked her braid over her shoulder and loosened one of her guns from its holster. The alley she was walking in was nearing a dead end, and that was where she was planning to take her followers out. No one threatened her and got away with it. Her eyes almost seemed to glow for a moment as a feral smirk flitted over her face. She would have to leave one alive. That one would then tell her everything he knew. She flitted into the shadows as she went around a corner and pulled out her gun, quickly screwing a silencer on the muzzle of the gun and dropping her backpack on the ground. All she had to do now was wait for them.

And she didn't have to wait long. A few moment after she hid herself, the first of her pursuers came around the corner. She waited a little longer, until they had all passed her, before she stepped from the shadows. "Good evening, gentlemen. Out for a evening stroll?"

Her wild laugh bounced around them as they whirled around to face her and drew their guns. Her face took on a feral cast before she blanked it. A quick smile flashed over her face and she crooned at them. "Aw, don't be so shy! Weren't you following me to kill me? Why wait?"

Then she raised her own weapon and shot the first two before the remaining men, another five, returned her shots. A short, furious fight ensued, until all but one of the gang members were down, bleeding out on the damp ground. One was still alive, with a bullet in his gun arm, but alive. Asp grinned as she sashayed forward. Her gun disappeared back in it's holster, with a flick of her wrist she had a knife in her hand. Her grin turned sadistic as she crouched down next to the wounded man who was staring at her fearfully. "You are going to tell me everything you know, little fool." She purred. "Or I'll make it hurt. Badly."

The man tried to scramble away from her, but only succeeded in pushing himself further into the wall and thus further injuring himself. With a snarl Asp grabbed his collar, in the same movement shoving the knife in his shoulder before twisting the blade savagely, resulting in making the man cry out in pain. She snarled again. "Wimp! Now tell me, who paid you to kill me?!" She twisted the knife again. "I want names and all relevant information, trash, and I want it fast! Who wants to kill me this time?!"

Just as the man started to open his mouth to answer, or scream, she couldn't be certain on that, a heavy weight slammed into her side, ripping her away from her would-be killer. With a athletic twist and a flash of her knife she kicked the person off her, only then looking up. And froze as she heard the unmistakable click of a loaded gun at the back of her head.

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Wufei and Heero silently cursed as the gunshots could be heard from the alley they had just seen the other people they had been following disappear in. Hurrying forward, still silently, they were not prepared for what they saw. The green eyed woman was taking out the gang members with an almost creepy grace, and it wasn't until she started to torture the survivor for information that they managed to spring themselves into action again. Wufei threw himself forward, slamming into the woman and tearing her away from the downed man, only to be shocked as she twisted in mid-air and slashed her knife at him, in a feat of acrobatics he had only seen before from Trowa Barton. Heero in the meantime had moved deeper into the alley, drawing his gun as he went and thus ended up behind the woman as she landed on her feet. He raised his gun to her head and the click as he readied it could be heard clearly. The woman froze at that, before she straightened herself out. Wufei picked himself up and swiftly disarmed her, taking away three guns and six knives. Heero smirked at that. Seems like she was prepared for battle.

Wufei bit back a snarl as he handcuffed the woman, then walked over to the wounded man who was propped up against the wall. He ripped the knife from his shoulder and bandaged it swiftly, before also handcuffing him too. In the meantime Heero walked around the woman, still keeping his gun to her head. As he stood in front of her the first thing that he noticed were her eyes. They were a brilliant emerald green, and almost blazing with a inner light. Then she blinked and her eyes were a cool, calculating jade. She smirked. "Agent Heero Yuy."

Then she turned her head to see Wufei, and turned back. "Well, well, did they sent Gundam pilots in now? Must be really important then."

Wufei walked back to them, pulling the handcuffed gang member with him and picking up the discarded backpack of the woman at the same time. Heero put his gun away and grabbed the woman by her upper arm. "Come along now."

Heero and Wufei took their captives along, but as they walked out of the alley, Heero stopped as he heard the sound of steel dragging over stone. As he looked around, he spotted all around them people hiding in the shadows. Thugs, back alley street rats… all were gathered around. Heero turned to the green eyed woman. "What are they doing here?"

"Asp brings justice. Marauders bring revenge. We are respected."

Heero looked almost surprised at the rather straightforward answer he got from the woman, now positively identified as Asp. "Then why are they here?"

She threw him an exasperated look. "We help them, they help us. Normally." She turned towards the approaching people, who were all armed. "Not this time. Not necessary."

Heero didn't have the time to understand the muttered words before Asp spoke again, this time in a mangled English dialect, which was probably the street language, to the people. One man stepped from the shadows to answer her, arguing. She spoke again, this time her voice was sharp and it was an obvious command. The man backed down grudgingly. Asp smiled, then switched to normal English. "Don't worry, Jeff. Call Wolf and tell him to call Akuma. I'll need him. No need for you guys to call the attention of the Preventers by killing two of their top agents."

The man gave a twisted smirk, then slipped back in the shadows. A few moments later every thug in the shadows was gone. Wufei turned to Asp with a snarl. "What was that about?!"

Asp eyed him impassively. "These are the streets, Preventer boy. The streets are harsh and unforgiving. The Marauders help these people, give them more of a fighting chance. In return, they help us. Be glad, if I hadn't said anything, your corpse would be bleeding out on the streets right now." Her face suddenly twisted in a dark grin and she almost purred her words. "And believe me, most would probably enjoy the sight. Including me."

Wufei almost took a step back at the swift change in demeanor of the woman, before he collected himself and simply huffed. Asp cooed mockingly at him, grinning widely, her eyes shining with an almost insane inner light. Heero raised an eyebrow. "You're insane."

Asp's wild laughter bounced around them as she threw her head back. Her grin was wide and mischievous as her eyes twinkled. "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. We'll see, we'll see. I think sanity is overrated anyway."

Heero bit back a snort at that and took Asp by her arm, once again leading her through the maze of alleyways to their car. Wufei followed close behind with their other captive.

They reached their car in good time, though it took almost more time to convince the gang member to take the seat next to Asp in the back so they could leave. After they managed it, they quickly took off, driving through London to the Preventer Headquarters of the city.

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Asp giggled silently as she tilted her head to watch the one-way mirror that took up one whole side of the interrogation room. She could feel the other minds behind it, and knew they were watching her. So she tilted her head and gave them a feral smile, with bared teeth and just a touch of insanity. She cackled mentally. Disturbing people was always so much fun, something she had adopted from Ivy. She started humming a funeral march in a happy way, something which seemed to disturb her watchers, if she read their emotions correctly. She bit back the giggles that were bubbling up. No need for her amusement to stop her from humming. No need for her amusement to stop her from disturbing her watchers even more.

They had just thrown her into the interrogation room as soon as they had arrived at the Preventer Headquarters. The didn't even shackle her to a chair, they just kept the handcuffs on her. Her backpack was thrown in a corner of the room and then they had disappeared to bring the would-be murderer to the infirmary and to probably warn their boss that they got Asp. Her humming brightened for a moment. Oh yeah, she was famous, and this time for something she did all by herself. Giggles bubbled through the humming, before she squashed them again. With a mental sigh she tilted her head up and stared at the ceiling. The people observing her would by now probably think she was completely insane. That would be wrong, though she had to admit she wasn't completely sane anymore. But hey, who could stay sane after all she had seen and done?

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Lady Une, Commander of the Preventers, stared at the young woman in the other room through the one-way mirror. The woman was humming a funeral march in a happy tone, something not even Agent Maxwell had done before, and that was the one person she could even compare this Asp to. She had read the reports her Agents had given, those who were former Alliance or OZ soldiers, who had encountered Asp or her Marauders, and she had heard the report Agent Yuy and Chang had just given her. Immediately after she had learned that she had one of the most feared rebels in her Headquarters, she had called in her top agents, them being the Gundam Pilots. Four of them were already flanking her, they were only waiting for the fifth to make the decision who would interrogate Asp.

Quatre Winner stared at the young woman in the other room. He could see the others were disturbed by her behaviour, how she was humming and giggling at random. But he couldn't sense a shred of insanity. Well, she wasn't the most stable either, but the most he could get from her was a muted amusement. Like she was laughing at them. He couldn't help but snort at the same time as Asp giggled, her amusement bleeding over to him. Trowa Barton threw his partner and boyfriend a confused look. "Why are you laughing, little one?"

Quatre let another snort escape as Asp gave a bright laugh. "She is very amused by us. I do believe she is laughing at us."

Lady Une threw a sharp look to Quatre, who just giggled softly, then turned to the one-way mirror, only to be shocked as Asp was looking at them knowingly, an amused smile playing around her mouth. All people in their small room frowned at that, before they turned to the door as it slammed open and Duo Maxwell strode in. He waved cheerily. "Hiya guys! What's the fuzz?"

Wufei sent him a dark glare, then jerked his head to the interrogation room. "That's the 'fuzz', Maxwell."

Quatre raised a silent eyebrow as he felt a short spark of recognition shoot through Duo, along with protectiveness, relief and amusement, before it was quickly muffled. That had to be interesting. He gave a small smile, then spoke softly. "I propose to have Duo interrogate Asp."

"Why?" Lady Une frowned at him. Quatre smiled again, gently, and waved a hand in the direction where Asp sat. "If you look closely, you can see they have some of the same characteristics. I believe Duo would be more able to relate to her, thus making him more able to get her to start talking."

Lady Une studied Duo for a moment, then looked at Asp closely. After a few moments in which all were silent she nodded her head. "Very well. Agent Maxwell, get her file, then interrogate her."

"What should I ask?" Duo looked at Asp sideways while still keeping Lady Une in sight. "We don't actually have a crime to convict her off."

"Just… ask her. They might become allies for the Preventers. From what we know, they have an extensive intelligence network and talented members. We need all recourses we can get."

Duo hnned at her answer, something which was usually only done by Heero, and threw Quatre a subtle but sharp look, which Quatre answered with an even more subtle wink. Duo blinked at that, baffled, before a swift feral grin flashed over his face and his eyes twinkled.

The others looked at Duo for a moment before he turned and disappeared from the room to prepare himself.

Quatre hummed softly to himself as he waited for Duo to start, and he didn't have to wait long. Not even five minutes later the door of the interrogation room opened and Duo entered.

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Duo smirked as he stepped into the interrogation room. Quatre had given him a great opportunity for a prank with his support to have Duo interrogate asp. And Quatre knew it too, the cheeky bugger. Duo shuddered lightly. God, he had to stop hanging around with Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Their English curses were catching. That was just… wrong. Asp looked up at him as he bounced inside and took a seat in front of her. He smirked at her, then silently mouthed his plan for the prank to her, which was possible because he was seated with his back to the one-way mirror. Asp laughed brightly, agreeing instantly. Duo grinned. Thank god Asp was always in the mood for a nice prank. He opened the file. "So… name?"

Asp grinned cheerily. "Asp."

"No last name?"

"Nope."

"Hm." Duo flipped through the file, then closed it. "Well, I am Agent Duo Maxwell. I run, I hide, but I never lie. Nice to meet you." He waved airily with his hand. "Do you know why you are here?"

"Nope." She smiled charmingly. "Unless it is suddenly illegal to fight in self-defense, even though I may have killed some, they were going to kill me and they fired the first shot."

"Yes, well, but you also fought with the arresting agents and are just too damn charming for your own good." Duo laughed then switched languages. "_Live hard_."

Asp answered him in the same language. "_Die well_."

"_Marauders forever_." They ended in unison. Asp laughed happily. "Duo, my braided bitch, you haven't changed a bit since I last saw you."

"Neither have you, my slithering sneak. I have to say, it's good to see you again." Duo grinned and hugged Asp over the table for as far as that was possible. "Why didn't you call me when you got here? You knew I would be here."

Asp shrugged. "I didn't know whether you were busy or not, besides, I was going to call you when I finished business here, and that would have been tomorrow. Wolf called you?"

"Yeah. Sounded rather worried too."

Asp snorted. "He would worry even if I was asleep." She sighed and her shoulders dropped. "He still feels guilty."

Duo smiled gently. "We'll talk later. I think my boss wants an explanation now."

And just as he finished talking the door slammed open and an angry Lady Une strode in, followed by the other four Gundam pilots. She glared at both Duo and Asp, then sat down on a chair. "Agent Maxwell. Asp. Explain."


	2. Chapter 2

Lady Une didn't exactly know what she exactly had expected when Agent Maxwell had entered the interrogation room, but the farce of an interrogation and then the revelation that he knew Asp quite well and apparently was good friends with her wasn't it.

To be honest, she had rather expected that the two would get into a fight, not get along like a house on fire. She could only stare as the two exchanged what appeared to be a recognition phrase, then started to exchange messages and inquiring after each other. From the corner of her eye she saw most of the other pilots also looking surprised, or as surprised as they could look, and she also caught the small smirk that one Agent Winner sported on his face.

The sneaky bastard! He had purposely put Agent Maxwell forward for the interrogation. She saw his smirk grow wider as he looked at her and she could only glare at him. With a growl she stormed from the room, followed by the four pilots, and she threw the door to the interrogation room open, storming inside and taking a seat while glaring angrily to the two inside. She did not like unexpected surprises like these. "Agent Maxwell. Asp. Explain."

* * *

Asp and Duo exchanged glances, then Asp nodded to Duo as a silent queue that he had to start the story. Duo sighed and slouched in his chair, rubbing his temples tiredly. "Right-o. Explain. Well, this story starts quite some time ago, during the first war, so excuse us for taking a bit more time to get to the point of our answer."

The other four pilots exchanged startled looks, then concentrated on Duo again as he started speaking again. They had never known during all the time they had been together that Duo had been in contact with other people who were also fighting the same opponents as they did during the first war.

"I was on a mission, without my Gundam, to destroy a military building, when it all kind of went topsy curvy." He caught their questioning glances at the phrase he used and laughed. "Sorry, I meant: it went straight to hell. I wasn't there for even a minute when the alarm went off and the place flooded with soldiers, all armed to the teeth. I was screwed with no way out, I got shot, hit on and was on the floor waiting to die. And that was exactly the moment one wall blew up and the Marauders entered the fray."

Asp picked up the story, leaning forward in her chair as far as she could with her hands cuffed. "My team and I were on a mission that night. We were to destroy the place where Duo was at that time, to completely raze it to the ground. No survivors." She gave a quick, feral grin that disappeared as quick as it had appeared. "We entered, killed all of them, and rescued Duo. He was in pretty bad shape, so we took him along to our hideout and healed him." She shrugged. "He was there fighting those soldiers, so we knew he was a comrade in arms. We leave no man behind. After he was healed, he stayed a couple of days before he returned to his friends. We kept in contact after that."

Duo nodded cheerily. "Yep. They even sent some info on missions that I had to go on. The Marauders have the most amazing intelligence network I have ever seen."

"Thanks." Asp smiled at him. "I am rather proud of it myself."

Lady Une pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes for a moment. "How long have the two of you known each other?"

Duo and Asp exchanged glanced again, then answered in stereo. "About four or five years."

"How often did you meet?"

"At least two times more during the first war, afterwards we tried to meet at least once every two months, and if possible, every month." Duo answered this time, and he shrugged. "The Marauders are like a second family, and they always have great information. Besides, Asps' cooking is to die for!" He grinned widely, and his eyes sparkled as Asp blushed lightly at the praise.

The four other pilots exchanged amused glances at the interaction between Asp and Duo. Quatre sighed as he watched them. The two were so clueless it almost wasn't funny. Oh well, it just meant he had a new project.

Lady Une cleared her throat to get their attention back. "Right. Well, what are the Marauders doing now?"

Asp shrugged. "Cleaning up the trash."

As Lady Une echoed her answer in a questioning tone, she explained. "You Preventers are good and all, but some trashy elements are so entrenched that even you cannot take them out, or at least not completely. That's where we come in. The Marauders already live in the twilight of the society, so we sometimes slip into the shadows to do a bit of cleaning up." She shrugged and gave a roguish grin.  
"We don't like some criminals."

Lady Une stared at her for a moment before sighing. "So the rumors we heard were true? That the Marauders take down the worst crime lords?"

"I can neither confirm nor deny those allegations." Asp managed to pull off the innocent look perfectly, then she turned serious. "I am not the only one in this. I have to look out for my people and those we protect."

"I don't know why, but I expected an answer like that." Lady Une sighed tiredly, then waved Heero forward. "Agent Yuy, please release Miss Asp. We have no evidence, and cannot keep her in." She threw a sharp look at Asp as Heero released the handcuffs on Asp. "I would like it if you stayed around for a few days though. The people who want you dead will not stop at one attempt."

"I know." Asp smiled, her smile all teeth and malicious intent, while rubbing her wrists. "I will find out who they are, and bring the information to Duo. He'll know what to do with it."

Duo raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You're not gonna go after them yourself? I know you can."

"The Preventers now know of this. I figured they would appreciate it more if the Marauders stayed on the sidelines for this. We could use this to perhaps hash something out for mutual beneficence." Asp smiled charmingly at Lady Une and glared at Duo as he snickered softly, then turned back to Une. "I must confess, I have half the urge to say 'screw you, you blathering bitch' and blow your brains out for being so demanding and for the things you did in the war, but since you're the boss around here, it doesn't seem really smart. Besides, no matter how good we Marauders are, we can't be everywhere. We know when to admit when we need help, unlike some people."

Here she threw a glare a Duo, who started to protest, only to be cut off by Lady Une. "I agree." She gave a sly smile. "Even we Preventers can't be everywhere, and our intelligence network isn't that great. Even now there are people who are trying to get us disbanded. We don't need that."

"I agree." Asp nodded, with a sympathetic smile, which turned into a sly one. "Sometimes you need to go to the shadows to keep the rest of the world light. Sacrifice your own soul for the betterment of others, aye, Akuma?"

"Aye." was the solemn answer of Duo. "Save the innocent before saving yourself."

"Kill the guilty before they kill you and desecrate their bodies." Added Asp. Duo laughed harshly, Shinigami coming to the forefront again, if only for a short while. "Spit on them."

The four other pilots exchanged uncertain glances, before Quatre decided to take control of the situation. "Perhaps we can finish this discussion some other time? And then perhaps in an office, Lady Une?"

Lady Une nodded and rose. "Quite right." She looked at Asp as she also rose in a fluid movement. "I think I can expect to see you somewhere tomorrow for another discussion?"

Asp gave a chilling smile. "I will be there. With information that might be interesting for you once I've dug it up."

Duo grinned crazily, then dove in the corner and retrieved Asps' backpack, handing it over to her. "There ya go, Asp. And by the way, you need practice with lying. I know you fired the first shot at those thugs."

"Thanks, Akuma." She snorted at his comment. "Even if I did, do you really think I would admit that while being watched by five Preventers and their boss? I'm not stupid, Akuma. Besides, they deserved whatever they got."

Wufei narrowed his eyes at Duo, while Lady Une left the room, leaving the five pilots and the Marauder alone. "You are Akuma, Maxwell?"

"He is. Do you have a problem with that?" Asp was suddenly in front of Wufei, her eyes narrowed dangerously and her face blank. Dangerously blank. Quatre could feel her protectiveness and her simmering rage, causing him to rub a hand over his chest in discomfort, something that was picked up by Duo.

"Okay, that's enough. Both of you. Now come on, Asp, let's get you outta here. I want to see Dee and Dum again. They owe me some pranks." He pulled Asp by her elbow from the room. "Now, come on, come on, we're burning daylight!"

"It's night, Akuma." The amused voice of Asp drifted back to them as she and Duo disappeared.

Trowa turned to Quatre as they couldn't hear Duo and Asp anymore. "You knew they knew each other." It wasn't a question.

"Of course I did. With the amount of protectiveness they felt for each other when they spotted each other, it was impossible to miss." Quatre smothered his grin as Wufei glared at him, then he smiled softly. "It is nice to know Duo has such good friends, people who understand the society he went through."

"But why didn't he tell us? We could have used the allies during the wars." Wufei still wasn't happy. In his perception, it was dishonorable to keep such information which could be crucial to missions from the others. Heero threw a quick, shrewd look at Wufei, before snorting. "But he did tell us things. Do you not remember the times he came up with extra information that we could use? He might not have told us that he got it from the Marauders, but he didn't keep that information from us. Duo would never do that."

Trowa silently nodded his head in agreement with Heero, then he quirked the sides of his mouth up in his version of a smile. "It will be interesting to see how this Asp is. I have the feeling she will be around for quite some time."

Quatre giggled in amusement. "I think it will be fun, now that we have met them. I'm curious how the Marauders are. After all, we know the stories, but the real people behind those stories are always different."

"Agreed." Heero agreed stoically. He then quirked his lips in a slight smile, more of a smirk. "Besides, it's going to be fun to see how the other Agents react to them."

* * *

It was early the next morning that Lady Une was drawn to the reception area by a strange commotion. There were some gawking sounds, and some shouts. The most loud thing however, where the loud laughs that she knew came from Agent Duo Maxwell. As she came near, she heard a yelp of pain and a smacking of flesh on flesh. A cheer sounded and a dull thud of someone somehow slamming into a wall. Lady Une quickened her steps and rounded a corner just in time to see one of her agents take a flying leap to try and tackle Asp, only to be slammed face-down into the ground. Asp hooted in elation and the agent on the floor groaned, making Asp laugh delightedly. "What did you expect, little boy? Just attacking people randomly isn't good for your health, you know."

The agent only groaned in response, and Duo skipped forward from the wall he had been leaning against. Asp turned to him while wagging a finger. "And where were you, huh? I was being attacked, and you can't even find it in you to help me?" She sniffed and blinked back fake tears. "I'm hurt, truly hurt."

Lady Une decided that she had seen enough and stepped out from the hallway. "Why wasn't I notified that my guest had arrived?" She looked around the hall sternly, keeping her eyes narrow. Most of the Agents that had been watching the spectacle averted their eyes with a bit of shame. Maxwell bounced forward, a smirk firmly planted on his lips. "That might be because Asp came in, stalked up to the secretary and said: 'The name is Asp, I'm here to see your boss. Take me to her, like now.'" He smirked wider. "After that announcement, several Agents got the crazy idea to arrest her, since they also somehow got the crazy idea that Asp was here to kill you and then probably blow up the building, or something like that."

Lady Une sighed heavily, rubbing her forehead. "Okay, enough. Maxwell, Asp, follow me. You all." she gestured vaguely to the stunned agents in the hall. "Clean this up. I don't want to see anything of it once Asp will leave. Get to it."

Asp gave a dry, throaty chuckle before following her from the hall. No one noticed the shadow slipping after them as they left for Lady Une's office.

* * *

Lady Une sighed in relief as the door of her office slammed shut behind Asp and Agent Maxwell. Finally she had calm and quiet… well, relatively calm and quiet. Asp turned to look at Lady Une with a serious face. "Lady Une, I'd like you to meet one of my subordinates." She waved at the wall to the side of the door, and Lady Une shot up from her chair as a young woman appeared from the shadows. The woman had long silvery blond hair and silvery blue, slightly protruding, eyes, and she was looking around with sharp glances. Asp smiled grimly. "Lady Une, this is Ivy. Ivy, meet Lady Une."

Une frowned in the direction of Asp and Ivy. "How did you get in here?"

"I followed you." Came the blunt reply.

Lady Une groaned and rubbed her forehead. "Yes, I gathered that. What I meant was: how did you manage to follow us into my office without anyone spotting you?"

Ivy gave a sly smirk, one that reminded Une forcefully of the fact that the young woman was a subordinate of Asp. "That would be… classified."

Asp made a cutting gesture with her hand. "Enough." Her voice was sharp, cold. "How my people get in and out of places isn't your concern, _Commander_ Une. We came here as a gesture of goodwill, a sign that we are willing to overlook the fact that most of your people are our… former… enemies, and that we are willing to help you out. It doesn't mean we will share every secret of ours with you." With a sniff she threw the folder she had in her hand, which had been handed to her by Ivy, on the desk in front of Une. "Here is the information I promised to look up."

Lady Une sighed and bowed her head. "I apologize. But do understand that I am only worried for my people."

"As am I." came the venomous retort from Asp.

Une winced. She had made a blunder here. A stupid one, if she read the face of Agent Maxwell correctly. She sighed. "I apologize again. I am simply not used to, well, talks like this anymore. These days, it's more giving orders than discussing, or the people I'm talking with are spineless politicians."

Asp threw her head back with a snort, but the feral angry look disappeared from her eyes. "Not a very good excuse, but I will accept it… for now. Now, I have given you the information on my attackers in that file." She gave a sly smile. "You might want to look it through."

With that not so subtle hint Lady Une opened the folder and her eyes widened at it's precision and the information she could find in it. She took a few minutes to look through it, during which Ivy had taken up a position behind Asp with her hands clasped behind her back.

After she read it through she looked up with a serious face to Asp. "Are you certain that all this information is true?"

"Aye." Asp gestured behind her to Ivy. "Ivy is one of our best, and she lead the operation to get this info. I can guarantee you, if she found it, it is true. No matter how much you wish it wasn't."

Duo leaned forward curiously. "Alright, what's in it? What's the big deal that you're all looking like someone killed your puppy?"

"Several Agents were involved." Lady Une sounded tired. "Several of _my_ Agents are working for other people, giving them classified information and helping them organize assassination attempts like on Asp. This is…" She shook her head. "I don't like this."

Duo looked murderous. "I'll kill the bastards. Undermining the Preventers and conspiring to kill one of my best friends… I won't forget that."

"Neither will we, Akuma, but we have to be patient." Ivy gave a chilling smile. "Them dying now would be to convenient for the traitors. They need to suffer."

"Stand down, both of you." Asp was commanding and Une couldn't help but think that it was no wonder that the Alliance and OZ feared the Marauders. Asp was truly fearsome.

Ivy growled lowly in her throat, but then became silent. Duo looked rebellious, but Asp simply looked at him and he grudgingly bowed his head in agreement, but he didn't look happy with it. Asp sighed, then rubbed her forehead. "Akuma, would you like to take Ivy on a tour, or take her to get some coffee? Me an' Une have some boring things to discuss that you probably wouldn't like."

Duo grinned widely and looked at Lady Une for permission. As soon as she gave the word, Duo skipped from the room, dragging Ivy behind him, who glared angrily at Asp, mouthing what seemed like threats. Asp smirked and waved, then turned back to Lady Une, turning completely serious. "Right, now that we have some peace and quiet in here, how about we hammer out some details of our agreement?"

Lady Une smirked. She was starting to like Asp.

* * *

It was late that afternoon before Asp emerged from the office with Lady Une on her heals. Both looked satisfied and smug, something that sent warning tingles up everybody's spines. Ivy slipped next to Asp and gave her an asking glance, that was answered with a nod. Ivy smiled, a thing that lit up her entire face, then slipped away again to stand next to Duo. Duo grinned. "So you guys worked something out?"

"Yeah, we worked something out." Asp gave a tired smile to Duo, then turned to nod at Lady Une. "Me and my team will be here tomorrow, just as we agreed upon. We will discuss the fine print then?"

"Yes." Lady Une grinned, to the surprise of Duo. "I look forward to working with you and your people, Asp. May it be a long and fruitful partnership."

"Hear, hear." Asp bowed her head in acknowledgement, then gave a lopsided smile, a sane one. "Till tomorrow."

She turned around, beckoned Ivy to follow her and slipped away in the bustle of the Preventers Headquarters. Lady Une gave a sigh. Negotiations had been furious and difficult, but she had relished in the opportunity to talk with someone who knew exactly what she went through and what she faced every day, although still a bit different. Asp had spunk, that was all she could say about it.


	3. Chapter 3

Silent shadows slipped through the deserted halls of the Preventer Headquarters in London. If one looked closely enough, you could see five persons almost flowing from hiding spot to hiding spot, slowly but surely infiltrating the almost impossible to infiltrate building. The lead figure looked up at a high wall, green glittering eyes the only visible part of the person as the lower face was obscured with a mask and the head covered with a bandana.

Asp smirked at the night as she and her teammates managed to enter the so called most secure building in England without any trouble. With silent hand signals and even more silent giggles they slid through the hallways, dodging the security and finally arriving at their destination. Still moving soundlessly the five persons entered one particular office, quickly disabling the security systems, then settling down. Silver eyes peeked out from under a black bandana as Ivy giggled. "Do you think they will flip?"

Another barked out a soft laugh, blue eyes dancing merrily. "Of course they will. Now, who's up for a game of poker?"

Four groans resounded in the office while one cackled slightly maniacally.

* * *

Lady Une sighed as she opened the door to her office, balancing her coffee and several files in one arm to open the door. She shuffled inside, closing the door behind her before looking up. And she promptly froze.

Around her desk were five figures dressed in dark grey and black clothes, with bandana's covering their hair and half-masks covering the lower half of their faces, and they were frozen mid-motion while playing poker. On her desk. One of them rubbed the back of their head sheepishly and Lady Une saw green eyes dancing merrily. "Good morning, Une."

"Good morning, Asp." Lady Une sighed. She pouted in her head. Her day hadn't even started yet and it was already out of control. She dumped the files on her desk, forcing the others to quickly gather their cards and vacate their places around her desk. They took formation in front of her desk, Asp standing in front.

"Why the disguise?" Une took her seat. Asp cocked her head, then pulled down her half-mask and grinned. "Well, we were sneaking in for old times sake, so we needed the complete outfit. We even got a gift for you!"

One of the figure pulled a rolled up paper from… somewhere and unrolled it. It was a poster with the trademark sign of the Marauders.

Lady Une fought the urge to drop her head on her desk, and Asp grinned happily. "We could have branded it into your wall, but thought it would be nicer to just get you a poster."

"Thank you for your consideration." Lady Une answered dryly. "I rather like my walls how they are."

"Too bad." One of the figures behind Asp spoke, from the voice it was a male. "We could have made it real pretty, with colours and glitter."

He cackled for a moment before he was smacked on the back of the head by another figure, which quickly shut him up. Asp waved at him, then grinned at Une. "I apologize for Dee, he isn't the sharpest tool in the shed."

Une couldn't see the mans face, but she could almost feel the pout. She rubbed her forehead with a sigh, then looked back up. "If you all have a moment, I would like to call my best Agents up here, so you all can be introduced to each other, since you all will probably be working with them if you work with the Preventers."

"Akuma and his colleagues?" The other female, who Une recognized as Ivy questioned.

"Yes. I thought that would be for the best." At the nod of Asp, Une grabbed her phone and started placing calls to call the Gundam Pilots to her office. The five Marauders set themselves up against a wall to the side of the office, so they wouldn't be in the way if people came in.

It took half an hour before the Gundam pilots appeared in the office. They came in together, and tensed at the sight of the Marauders until they spotted Asp, who gave a wide grin and a wriggly wave of her fingers. Lady Une sighed as everybody managed to find chairs and settled down. "Right. Okay, Asp, if you would introduce your people, then I can explain a bit of our agreement to my Agents. I take it you already briefed your team?"

Asp nodded, then waved at her teammates, who all pulled their half-masks down and took off their bandanas. "Okay people, you know I am Asp. That is Ivy."

The other woman with silvery blonde hair and greyish silver eyes gave a dreamy smile.

"That is Night."

A young man with brownish blonde hair and brown eyes nodded seriously.

"And that are Tweedledee and Tweedledum. As you can see, they are twins."

The two men with fiery red hair and bright blue eyes smirked in tandem. One of them grinned. "So nice to meet you all."

Duo grinned widely. "Yeah, nice to see you guys again."

Ivy pouted. "But you saw me yesterday, Akuma. Don't tell me you forgot me already in that time?"

"Never, my fair lady of the night." Duo protested but he was cut off as a pack of cards hit him in the face, thrown by a glowering Night. "Go flirt with your own girlfriend, Akuma."

Lady Une cleared her throat to get the attention back of the bickering Marauders and Duo, and the rather wide-eyed other four Gundam pilots. "If I could have your attention again? Asp and I came to the agreement that the Preventers and Marauders will be bundling their powers. To help with that, their team Alpha will be working together with our top Agents. That is you." She glowered at the Gundam pilots. They shuffled nervously in place at the glare. Asp snickered softly, before shutting up as the glare was aimed at her. She raised her hands in surrender. Lady Une sniffed, then continued. "To that end, team Alpha will introduce themselves better, and explain some things about themselves, like Asp promised." She glowered at Asp.

Asp smiled, then her smile became a grin. "Before we start explaining, I need to know whether ya'll have been briefed on the hidden society in the world. Une?"

"The Wizards, you mean?"

Asp nodded. "Yep! You all know of them?"

As she got affirmative replies from the Gundam pilots and Lady Une, she continued with her story. "Well, then. We'll introduce ourselves." She waved at Ivy, who stood up and bowed. "I am Luna Lovegood. Witch, terrorist."

Night stood up next. "Neville Longbottom, Lord of Longbottom. Wizard, terrorist."

"George Weasley, Wizard, terrorist." Tweedledee stood up first, swiftly followed by his brother. "Fred Weasley, Wizard, terrorist."

As last Asp stood up. She bowed, then as she righted herself, her appearance changed. Her hair gained red streaks and highlights and her eyes changed to a more jade green. She smirked. "Samantha Potter, Lady of Potter, Lady of Black. Witch, terrorist."

Lady Une sat back in shock, and the pilots were silent, only Duo was smirking smugly, exchanging money with Night. Asp grinned widely.

Quatre was the fist to get his bearings back. "Lady Potter?"

"Yes?" Asp turned to him with a mega-watt grin. "Surprise, huh?"

"You can say that." Lady Une rubbed her hands over her face, murmuring something about 'getting too old for this shit' under her breath. "I don't think anyone would ever suspect you, of all people, to be a member of the Marauders, let alone the leader. Now, if I may ask, why did you all involve yourself in a war not of you own people? After all, you are all members of the Wizarding Society."

The smile of Asp slid off her face at that question, before her appearance morphed back to black hair and bright green eyes. Her face hardened. "A war not of our people? You may be right about that, Une, but it wasn't for the colonies that we fought, at least not at first." Her face contorted in a mockery of a smile. "No, we begun fighting for revenge."

The other Marauders stilled, that faces changing, becoming more harsh, colder and angry.

Asp stood proudly, then gestured to herself and her people. "You wanted to know why we fought? Then know it. We are the only survivors and thus only witnesses of the Ottery St. Catchpole Slaughter."

* * *

The Ottery St. Catchpole Slaughter had been a blacklisted event in the history of the Alliance and OZ. There had been reports that there were terrorists in the small rural town, and the orders that had come from the brass had been to destroy everything and everyone in it. Men, women, children, everyone had been cheerfully slaughtered. The soldiers who had gotten the orders had gone beyond it. Stories were that they had tortured people to death and that several unmentionable practises had been used during the actions. The orders had been buried, the soldiers reposted and the public had been told that there had been a chemical accident in the area that had released toxic gasses that had killed everyone. No one knew of it, until after the first war the Preventers had dug up the files.

Lady Une had ordered a new investigation into the happenings, but nothing conclusive had come from it. They had found no survivors, the only thing they did find were the old reports, the orders that had been given and the witness-accounts from the soldiers that had been given immediately after. They couldn't get those in person anymore, since the one thing they did find out was that every soldier that had participated in the slaughter and every officer that had had something to do with the events were all dead.

Killed in attacks by the Marauders.

It made a sick sort of sense.

* * *

Lady Une chocked on air.

Heero, Quatre and Trowa stilled completely.

Wufei swore foully and colourfully.

Lady Une took a shaky breath as she leaned back in her chair. "How old were you?"

Asp smiled humourlessly. "I was twelve, just as Night. Dee and Dum were fifteen. Ivy was eleven. We were just lucky that we survived."

Night snorted. "We weren't lucky, Asp. If not for you, Dee and Dum, Ivy and I would be dead too."

Ivy nodded and Heero raised an inquisitive eyebrow. She elaborated. "Asp, Dee and Dum had been away, and arrived back just as the slaughter started. They watched their family die, then managed to escape the soldiers looking for them. On their way out, they managed to save me and Night."

"Managed to escape the soldiers? How? I thought they had gotten the orders to destroy everything and everyone?" Wufei asked.

Asp smiled cruelly. "They came after us, they died. They made their choice."

"You made your fist kill at twelve years old?" Lady Une asked calmly, trying to restrain her temper, to keep an even head. Asp shook her head. "No, I made my first kill at eleven. Our Defence Professor at Hogwarts was possessed and tried to kill me. I killed him first."

Une took a deep breath, then sat back and tried to collect her thoughts. No wonder the Marauders had been so harsh and cruel in their actions. To watch their families die in front of their eyes, to see them killed for no other reason than a whim of some commander… She would be angry and wrathful too. And Asp… First kill at eleven. At a Magic school. All of them had been there, if she understood them right. All of them Witches and Wizards. Most of the Marauders probably, if she guessed right. "If I'm right, then you didn't form the Marauders just to fight for vengeance."

This time Night gave her a shrewd smile. "Nice one, _Colonel_. Indeed, we started out like that, but when Voldemort rose, we Marauders fought him too. That fight was even more brutal, if you can believe that."

"Voldemort?" Trowa cocked his head to the side curiously.

Ivy gave him a blank smile. "Voldemort was a self-proclaimed Dark Lord, his real name was Tom Marvolo Riddle, he was the half-blood heir of Slytherin, son of a Muggle man and an almost Squib mother, he claimed to be able to rid the world of those 'unworthy', or in his words: muggleborn, half-bloods, non-magicals, squibs, anybody who wasn't pureblood or who didn't support his views. We fought a short but brutal civil war against him. Surely you have read some reports of it? Some of the fights bled over in the non-magical society."

"Yes, I remember that report. Wasn't he killed somewhere last year?" Heero inserted himself in the conversation.

Dee grinned, nodding. "Yes. Asp killed him."

"Why did it take so long?"

Dum frowned at Heero. "Down boy. Let me explain some things to you. When Ivy said civil war, then that is exactly what it was. Moldiemort and his supporters were firmly entrenched in the entire society, they controlled large parts of it. That meant that to defeat, or better yet completely annihilate the madman, we had to exterminate every single last stronghold of his, and that were quite a few. That does take some time, especially since most of them were nicely hidden with magic, or did you forget that fact?"

Heero coughed to hide his embarrassment, then looked to the side, ignoring Dum. "Hn."

Asp hummed silently, then gave a feral grin. "Well now, now that is all spoken off, what is the next thing on the agenda, Une?"

"Apart from putting up your beautiful poster?" Dee quipped before being silenced with a cuff to the back of his head.

Lady Une smiled. She could get used to the Marauders, well, at least this team. "Next is how we are going to work together. The Marauders have agreed to put their net of informants to the job and help us with information on anything that could help us, and as I said, one team will be stationed with us. Now, Asp, if you and your people could just come in every workday, we'll get you all an office next to the office of the pilots, since they will be the ones who you'll be working with. You'll also get a normal salary for the hours you work. Is that acceptable?"

"Yeah, it is." Asp leaned back in her chair. "Will you be telling your other Agents that you have 'recruited' us?"

Une grinned. "That would be nice of me. After all, I wouldn't want my Agents to get a heart attack if they suddenly realized they are in an office next to people who would have cheerfully skinned them alive during the war."

The Marauders exchanged smug smirks and grins. Quatre and Wufei sighed in exasperation, Trowa and Heero exchanged annoyed looks and Duo grinned wickedly.

* * *

Lady Une smirked as she looked over the gathered Agents in he large briefing room. They were all restless, wondering why they had been called in for an apparent top secret briefing that had their top Agents and leader smirking like the cat that got the canary, ate the cream and made sure the dog took the fall.

As Une cleared her throat, silence fell over the gathered Agents. She gave a thin smile. "I suppose most of you have already heard the rumours that have been circulating around the building that we managed to get in contact, and even meet with, the leader of the Marauders."

The room was silent.

Une continued. "Those rumours are true."

She waited for a moment to let the disbelieving murmuring die down, then started talking again. "I have spoken with Asp, the leader of the Marauders, and they have agreed to help the Preventers in some ways, or I should say, in almost any way they can."

The uproar took a bit longer to die down after that.

"They have agreed to sent one team of their people here, to the Preventers, to help us and keep in contact." Une had a shark-like smirk on her face. "People, I would like to introduce you all to team Alpha of the Marauders."

A side door opened and the five Marauders stalked inside, their bandana's back on but their half-masks off. They smirked as some of the Agents scooted further away from them. Une gestured them forward, and they continued on until they stood in front of the crowd. "This is team Alpha, headed by Asp herself. They will be working with our top Agents and will have their own office next to them. I expect that you all will be treating them with the same respect that you treat your other superiors with. That was all. Dismissed."

The silence that fell over the gathered Agents as they stared at the Marauders would have made a grave proud. Asp smirked, then turned her back to the Agents and stalked off, her people following her. The noise that broke loose after they had left the room was almost enough to make them burst apart in laughter, but they held on and managed to get to the office of the pilots before the laughter burst free. Ivy snickered. "Did you see their faces? So funny."

Duo strolled into the room, a Cheshire grin stretched over his face. "Asp, my wonderful snaky lady, you have nearly made me burst a kidney from having to hold my laughter in. Do you know what kind of chaos you left back there? There were Agents screaming that you would kill them all and bring Armageddon down on us all. Hell, some of them had taken to hiding under their chair. They were trying to get them out from under them when I left. I just couldn't hold myself."

Asp grinned. "I know. Now let's get outta here. We're having a family and friends gathering at my place, and I'm going to have to start cooking now, or I'll never get enough. You coming?"

"Or miss your cooking? Hell yes!" Duo bounced over to his desk, taking his jacket and shutting off his computer before following the Marauders out of the room. "Let's raise some hell!"

A maniacal cackle of Dee and Dum was the only sound that echoed through the corridors as the other Agents finally left the briefing room. The Marauders and Duo were nowhere to be found.

* * *

Lady Une groaned, then sighed as she looked at the mountain of papers that were left on Maxwells' desk. He still hadn't finished his paperwork, and he was nowhere to be found.


End file.
